But will they vote for it? West Michigan lawmakers say they back NITC Detroit-Windsor bridge

MDOTA sketch of the proposed New International Trade Crossing previously prepared by the Michigan Department of Transportation.

A bipartisan group of west Michigan legislators discussed transportation policy at a Kent County Legislative Lunch at Grand Rapid’s New Hope Baptist Church. Most said they would support the proposed New International Trade Crossing Detroit-Windsor bridge.

The NITC plan is supported by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, the government of Canada, the Big Three, Amway, the UAW, and several locals Chambers of Commerce across the state including the Detroit Regional Chamber.

“[Rep. Roy Schmidt (D)] is wrong 90% of the time and Representative [Brandon] Dillon is wrong 99% of the time,” Republican Rep. Ken Yonker joked about his two Democratic colleagues on the panel. “But Roy is absolutely 100% right about this. I’m totally behind him on this…I look at this agreement the governor has put together, it’s a business contract. It’s pretty straight-forward. One of our biggest assets we have in the state is our international border. This is a great opportunity to capitalize on this without using our money.”

The government of Canada agreed to pay the $550 million needed to build toll and customs plazas on the Michigan side of the border. They would recoup that cost from Michigan’s share of the toll revenue. Once the debt is paid, then a certain percentage of NITC toll revenue would go to the state treasury.

“There are concerns that I have about the path that we are on,” said Jansen. “Mr. Moroun isn’t perfect in this thing, the city of Detroit isn’t perfect in this thing, Canada is not, Michigan is not, the U.S. is not.”

He added: “You have a big donor coming in and not treating somebody as fairly as they could be, but also having a person who is not being treated with respect the way that they could be.”

Rep. Thomas Hooker (R) said Governor Snyder and other NITC-backers need to do a better job selling the bridge project to Michigan voters.

“If I quizzed 75% of my district, they would say don’t build it, because of the advertising and because of the half-truths that have been put out, “Hooker said. “We have to represent the district that we have. So there is going to have to be some education, some recognition of what’s going to happen before our people are ready to move forward.”

The six legislators on the panel were Schmidt, Yonker, Jansen, Sen. Dave Hildenbrand, Dillon, and Hooker.